Billy Crystal, the 64-year-old actor and comedian, for the first time in a decade, is actually a leading man. He plays opposite Bette Midler, 66, as Artie Decker, a grandpa who takes charge of his daughterâ€™s three children in Parental Guidance, set for release by 20th Century Fox.

Crystalâ€™s new movie is the kind of heartwarming, wisecracking comedy that used to be written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, the funny guys who turned out Parenthood back in 1989. The script, based on a story by Crystal, was rewritten by Ganz, who is 63, and Mandel, 62.Read More

Forbes
Secret Emails Show How Laura Nyro‘s Son Got Shafted by the Rock Hall
3/30/2012

I told you a couple of weeks ago how the Rock and Roll Hall of Fameâ€“with over $90 million in assets according to its form 990â€“wouldnâ€™t invite Laura Nyroâ€™s only son to its April 14th induction ceremonies in Cleveland. Gil Bianchini is Nyroâ€™s only child, and is the official heir to her estate. But Nyroâ€“who wrote many hits like â€œSweet Soul Musicâ€ for the Fifth Dimension and â€œStoney Endâ€ for Barbra Streisandâ€“died in 1999 of cancer. The following year, her partner, Maria Desiderio, also passed away from ovarian cancer. Desiderio turned the estate over to a friend, Patty DiLauria, who had no connection to Bianchini or, really, Nyro. She has refused to give Bianchini any of the personal possessions of Nyroâ€™s left to her by Desiderio.Read More

MIDLER MADNESS:Bette Midler apparently has a talent for making scenes â€” and not necessarily on camera. Recently, Midler took her young daughter, Sophie, to see the Broadway musical, “The Secret Garden.” Upon exiting the theater, Bette was bombarded by paparazzi who asked for a photo of Bette and her daughter. Rather than cooperate, Bette put up a fuss and refused. Grabbing little Sophie, who was by now hysterical, the star swept out of the theater and began running through the streets to her hotel, with the lensmen in hot pursuit. Finally, they got their photos in the hotel lobby â€” almost an even greater commotion.* * *Read More

Q: We all know Hat Bette Midler owes a lot of her early career success to a large homosexual following. Has she lost many of her fans to AIDS? â€” B.S.

A: B e f o re she had the broad, mainstream appeal she has today, Bette was a darling of gay audiences. She got her first big break, after all, singing in a men’s bathhouse in New York. Bette, 45, says to date she’s lost close to 50 personal friends to AIDS.

Digital entertainment options and social media might be changing the movies. But Hollywood is sloshing in its Hot Tub Time Machine with a cluster of projects that recall an era when hair was big, heroes had biceps and the stars who are returning to the limelight were a lot younger.Read More